TAIPEI CRASH: WHAT INDIAN AND OTHER GOVTS THOUGHT

History books tell Indians that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose died in Taipei on August 18, 1945 following a crash. (Seen above is an old image of the airfield where the alleged air crash occured). But does the Indian Government actually believe it so happened? And what are the takes of various Governments on Bose\\'s fate? Check out for yourself.

Japan: Official Domei news agency (now known as Kyodo) announced on August 23, 1945 that Subhas Bose had died 5 days earlier. But how did they get this news? It was SA Ayer, the Propaganda Minister of the Azad Hind Government, who actually wrote the despatch relayed by Domei. And guess what -- Ayer had no direct knowledge of Netaji\\'s death! He had simply been told of Netaji\\'s death on 20th August by some Japanese military officials who themselves heard about it from others. Ayer demanded to be taken to Taipei, shown Bose\\'s body and meet up Habibur Rahman. As it happened, he was not taken to Taipei but still persuaded to write the death news.

Neither the Japanese Government nor the Imperial Japanese Army HQ officially announced Bose\\'s death at that time. A week after the alleged crash, two of Bose\\'s top aides, Debnath Das and Pritam Singh, who saw off their leader on the 17 August evening, were told by Japanese military intelligence officers to not to believe in the crash news. Similar talks pervaded among the INA secret service agents.

Since 1950s, the Government of Japan has exuded confidence in Bose\\'s death relying on the old reports. They did not furnish any proper evidence of Bose\\'s death to the Mukherjee Commission. And whatever they offered in past, like the death certificate for Bose, turned out to be fishy. The Domei version itself was misleading. Also, there is hardly any evidence for the death of the pilots and Lt General Tsunamasa Shidei, who all are said to have died and cremated in Taipei on August 18, 1945. It was strange coincidence that Taipei plane crash "killed" all those who were heading towards Russian-held territory --- Netaji, Shidei, pilots --- whereas the rest lived to tell their tales.

Britain: Both the British Government and that of British India refuted the news of Bose\\'s death as it was announced. Subsequently, several inquiries were carried out which lasted for more than a year at least. Some of the intelligence reports that have become available present a confused picture. Quoting the "eyewitnesses", some reports say Bose died; whereas others say he went to Russia. But it would be reasonable to deduct that as per the British the death of Bose was not proven. Neither the British Government, nor that of the British India ever officially confirmed that, much as they would have given the dislike they had for Bose.

USA: The United States Government too knew about the case. Their intelligence agencies had kept a watch on Bose. The "crash" occurred in Taipei, where the US Army reached in September 1945. What with the excellent relations between the Britain and the USA, and those between Admiral Mountbatten and General MacArthur, it was anybody\\'s guess that the American must have looked into the case at the Britishers\\' behest, if not on their own. In fact, Lt Colonel Habibur Rahman Khan, the only viable witness to the Taipei crash, was rounded up and interrogated first by the US Army\\'s Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC).